Conspiracy
by abcnukegirl
Summary: Mostly the A-Team doesn't appear in this little story of mine. It's just a little snippet from a day in the life of some VA nurses. Notes: ATSB Quick Pick: Strange, rescued from the A-Team Fanfiction Archive where it was published in 2008. Thanks once again to the ATSB for feedback and editing help when it originally went up.


_Disclaimer: I don't own any rights to the A-Team, wouldn't want them even if I had them (my life is complicated enough), and am not making any money off this._

"Well, it's strange." Agnes Tyler, from behind her large wooden desk, eyed H.M. Murdock's file and tapped her pencil on it impatiently. The new head nurse had just been assigned to the psychiatric ward of the VA hospital, and was diligently going over the files of patients in her new domain.

She said, "Murdock seems like he's in and out of here all the time. Look, this time he was signed out by a Doctor Michael Tamplin. And two weeks later, he caught some communicable disease and this man from the CDC came out to take him for treatment. Then he just ran away for a week, only a few days after being returned. We might as well install a revolving door for him instead of those padded walls."

Nurse Trina Lawson, sitting across from her superior, chuckled. "I think he just gets tired of being confined," she said. "He's harmless. And all of those other issues are legit, as far as I know. I saw Doctor Tamplin when he was in. A very charming man. He had Tacy and Jennifer swooning, but he seemed too absent-minded to notice." She was thoughtful. "Murdock does seem to have some adventures, though, doesn't he?"

The new head nurse frowned. "I think we better try to put the kibosh on some of this, though. Did he really need to be taken away for treatment for athlete's foot last summer?"

Trina started. "What are you talking about?"

Nurse Tyler sighed and turned the folder around for her to view. Sure enough, Trina could see for herself that Tacy McVeigh had been on duty when a physical therapist named Bart Templeton had come in to treat Murdock's foot problems. He had signed Murdock out for three days of intensive therapy.

"Um, that is odd, I'll have to look into it," Trina said noncommittally. She silently berated Tacy in her mind. What had the girl been thinking? She should have been paying more attention.

"And Murdock's visitors!" Agnes exclaimed, putting on some bifocals with a pearl chain and peering at some additional notes. "A reporter from the Courier-Express, colonels from the army, a preacher from St. Catherine's, a guy in a reptile suit. He has more friends than I do, and he's certifiably insane."

Trina had her own opinions about his mental status, and Nurse Tyler's ability to attract friends, but she wasn't about to voice them here. "Well, he is an interesting case, fascinating even," she defended, "and he flew lots of missions in Vietnam—some for a military unit that got busted for an armed robbery or something. They're fugitives, and I think the military stops by to check on him and question him every once in a while, just to keep on top of things. The reporter came by once trying to get a story, and they became friends. As for the others—" she shrugged her shoulders. "It's not like he's not allowed to have guests. We don't have any real reason to restrict his visitors, since he's not dangerous."

Nurse Tyler grunted. "Well, I'm keeping an eye on this one from now on. You make sure his paperwork is in order. Whenever he comes in or out, I want to know." She put the file down and turned away. Trina was clearly dismissed. Trina restrained the urge to salute her dour superior and left the room.

Outside, Tacy and Jennifer were huddled in the pristine hallway near the door, looking on anxiously. "Back to work, ladies," Trina admonished. "What would our new head nurse say if she saw you two trying to eavesdrop like that?"

Jennifer Halloway wrung the towels in her hands, which served as her slim attempt at an excuse for standing in the hallway. "But what did she say? Does she know?"

Trina shook her head. "I don't think so. But Murdock's file does look a little suspicious, you know. We're going to have to be more careful. Athlete's foot, Tacy? Really?"

Tacy, the youngest of the nurses, blushed prettily. "Well, I wasn't really listening to what he was saying," she admitted. "I mean, he's just so…so!" She didn't need to say it.

"I know, but Nurse Tyler is going to be looking over our shoulders now," Trina said. "Let's get together at lunch and make sure we've got our i's dotted and our t's crossed. To cover our butts if nothing else."

The doorknob began to turn and the three nurses scurried out of the way before Nurse Tyler could catch them whispering together. Trina slipped behind her desk and began industriously typing gibberish at the computer as the new head nurse walked by with a brisk, challenging stride and got into the elevator. Trina stopped, rubbed her temples and sighed.

Then there he was again, the good-looking blonde man with the chiseled features, stepping out of an elevator just as the doors of the other closed behind Nurse Tyler. Today he was wearing a pair of sexy glasses and a Brooks Brothers suit, and he carried a attaché case made of Italian leather. If he recognized her from earlier visits, he didn't show it.

"I'm here for H.M. Murdock," he said, turning his 1000-watt smile on her. "I'm his attorney."

"Attorney?" she repeated dumbly. That was one she hadn't heard before.

"Yes," the man said importantly. "An estate attorney, actually. His uncle, you know, recently died."

"His uncle the ammonia salesman?" Trina was hooked.

"Er, yes," said the man, looking just slightly nonplussed at the sharpness of her memory. He looked like he was wracking his brain for a minute. "I represent the family. There are some issues with Murdock's inheritance, and I just need to see him for a minute or two to sign these papers…"

There was more, but Trina didn't listen. She just had the man sign in, directed him toward Murdock's room, and surreptitiously watched his backside as he strolled down the hallway. He turned back, to give her a conspiratorial grin and a wave, and she ducked back into the nurses' station with her cheeks flaming.


End file.
